Kagome opened her eyes and glared at the sunlight. How dare it wake her up this early! It's a Saturday. I get to sleep in. Why is it waking me up...?

"Morning, Kagome!"

"Argh. Why did I get a roomie that's a morning person?"

"Just lucky, I guess. Want me to fix you a bagel?"

"Oh. That's why," Kagome reminded herself. "Yes, please."

By the time Kagome was up, awake, and dressed, Rin had a blueberry bagel slathered with cream cheese for her. She accepted it gratefully and munched on it while she checked her email.

"It's Saturday," Rin reminded her.

Kagome nodded. "Studying. This afternoon. At Inuyasha's."

"Are you sure you don't-"

"No," Kagome said, cutting her off. "I do not like Inuyasha in that way. Sure, he treats me like a real person instead of just the Source. He's great to hang around with. I'll even go so far as to say he's cute. But we're not involved."

"What if he expressed an interest?"

"He's not going to."

"But what if he did?" Rin pressed.

Kagome sighed. "We're friends. Why screw it up?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"-so then he started talking about these big metal things called Gundams," Shippo said excited.

Kagome and Rin had just walked inside the house, backpacks full of homework slung over their shoulders. "What?" Kagome asked.

Shippo turned toward her. "My Experiences class. This guy came in Wednesday and talked to us about After Colony year 195 and Operation Meteor. It was really cool even if it did sound like science fiction."

Rin shook her head. "What Experiences class?"

"The one where all the people come in and talk to us about alternate realities and what they've done," Shippo said patiently. "Quatre Winner came to talk about the Gundams." He frowned. "I keep wondering if he was related to one of the pilots. He knew a lot about it that probably wouldn't be written in a history book..."

Sesshoumaru cleared his throat. "Actually, he was one of the pilots. If I'm not mistaken, he piloted the Sandrock Gundam."

Shippo's jaw fell. "What?"

"Hold it," Kagome said. "Quatre? As in the same guy who taught my business class last year?"

Sess nodded and went back to reading his book. "Well, that explains it."

"Explains what?" Sango asked, coming in the front door with Miroku following her. Shippo recounted the conversation so she could understand what was going on.

Tama jumped up on Sess's chair and settled down in his lap. Sess glanced at her under his book and shook his head a little before going back to reading.

Everyone settled down in their accustomed places. Inuyasha and Kagome claimed part of the floor, while Rin curled up on the loveseat. Shippo draped himself over the other chair in that boneless way that teenagers have. Miroku and Sango shared the couch.

No music played, but the air was filled with Shippo's soft voice reading his textbook, pencils and pens making their marks on the paper below them, and pages being turned. Tama began purring her contentment.

Since they were both doing their Mythological Creatures homework, Inuyasha and Kagome were sharing a book. They read at mostly the same pace and it was advantageous to do

it this way because when one of them got stuck on a particular section, the other could help them understand.

Inuyasha scribbled something in a notebook and Kagome found herself admiring the way his hand grasped the pencil. How had he learned not to snap the pencil in half? She knew he could do it easily as a hanyou. His claws didn't make dents in the soft wood, either. Such long slender fingers...

She shook her head. No way am I thinking about this. Nope. Uh-uh.

"Problem?"

Kagome's eyes widened. "No. Why do you ask?"

He shrugged. "You were shaking your head over something."

"Uh... Just daydreaming." She went back to reading the book.

She glanced at him a few minutes later. Is it just me or is he closer to me than usual?

Geez, Kagome, we're reading out of the same book. You have to be close for that.

But is he closer?

Would you just leave it alone? You're not interested in him and that's the end of it!

All right. But it wouldn't hurt to scoot away. Just a few inches. Breathing room.

Kagome moved away and Inuyasha looked at her. "Well," he said quietly. "I had a shower today so that's not it. Something wrong?"

She shook her head. "No."

"All right." He went back to taking notes and glanced at her again. "That time of the month?"

"Why is it that every time a girl acts a little strange, it has to be PMS?" Kagome asked him.

"So you admit that you're acting strange?" Inuyasha leaned his cheek on his hand and grinned at her.

"Oh, shut up and take your notes on centaurs."

Inuyasha flipped the page and reached toward the paper stuck in the middle. "Wait!" Kagome said. His hand froze in mid-air. "I didn't put that there."

"Then who did?"

She shrugged. "The book's brand new."

Miroku got up from the couch and diffused the paper, if it had anything magical about it at all. "Just a paper," he said finally. He picked it up and opened it. Reading silently, he nodded. "He has good taste." Miroku held the paper out to Kagome.

She accepted it and read it silently and then aloud.

Who Ever Loved That Loved Not at First Sight?

by Christopher Marlowe

It lies not in our power to love or hate,

For will in us is overruled by fate.

When two are stripped, long ere the course begin,

We wish that one should love, the other win;

And one especially do we affect

Of two gold ingots, like in each respect:

The reason no man knows; let it suffice

What we behold is censured by our eyes.

Where both deliberate, the love is slight:

Who ever loved, that loved not at first sight?

Inuyasha snickered. "Someone's sending you poetry."

"And what's wrong with poetry?" Kagome asked.

"Nothing," he said, holding up his hands as if to ward her off. "Some poetry's good. That one sounds okay. It's just that some guy that you don't know is sending you poetry."

She sighed. "And it found its way into my textbook. I can't go around wearing gloves all the time. What if he puts a spell on the next one?"

Miroku thought for a moment. "If I had a couple hours, I could manage to make this particular person's letters harmless to you."

"Really?" Kagome said. "Thank you so much!"

Miroku waved away the thank yous. "It isn't a problem. A few words, a drop or two of lemon juice, and it'll be fine. I just have to find the spell again."

"Because do you want to handle every piece of mail that gets sent to you and do the same spell over and over?" Inuyasha asked.

"Good point," she conceded.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later, Sess had finished making dinner for everyone and was now enjoying another game of chess with Rin. Kagome and Inuyasha were both pestering Shippo with questions about his dates with Bonnie. Inuyasha wasn't going to issue an invitation to him about bringing her along, but it seemed that Shippo was beginning to deepen his crush.

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